Goodbye
by emeraldlily06
Summary: Lily and James leave Hogwarts. Was originally part of a bigger story I am currently rewriting. JP/LE SB/OC RL/OC


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I only own the plot and characters you do not recognise i.e. Carys (Ca-ris), Angharad (Ann-ga-rad) and Keira.**

**Goodbye**

"There we are. All finished" Lily Marie Evans had just finished packing up the last of her things into her trunk before heading to the Gryffindor Common Room to meet her friends. "It's funny you know. You've got exactly the same things in you as you normally would, but you seem a lot heavier this time"

"It's holding all of your memories. Thats why it's heavier" She turned around to see James Potter standing behind her, at the foot of her bed. She walked over to him and gave him a long hug before saying "I'm glad I said yes to you. You've made this last year more bearable." She smiled at him with a small tear forming in her eye.

"I'm glad you said yes to me too. After four years of me asking, you finally said you'd go out with me." He said smiling. "Love you"

"I love you too" She replied, also smiling.

"You coming downstairs?" He asked still hugging her.

"No. I'll meet you down there in a bit." She said, breaking the hug and walking over to her overflowing school trunk. "I just need to finish something off quickly."

"Ok. See you soon" He said, following her, giving her a quick kiss before leaving the room, humming to himself.

Once she was alone, Lily walked around the room she had shared with her best friends for seven years. She stopped when she reached her desk, on which stood three pictures, one of the whole group, one of her and her best friends Angharad, Carys and Keira and a slightly larger muggle picture of her family.

Angharad Louise Thompson-Jones was a Welsh girl from Abergavenny with long, wavy, blond hair that reached the middle of her back and enchanting hazel brown eyes. She was quite tall compared to the other girls, around 5ft 8in, whereas the other girls all reached a height around 5ft 4in. She was a ballroom dancer in the muggle world, and had a lot of experience when it came to helping others. She mainly helped the marauders if they needed a new perspective for a prank they were pulling, or if they needed a spell only Lily would know. However, this came with the deal that they were not tell the others what she was doing and that they were not to prank the girls. She had been dating Paul Rhys, a 7th year Ravenclaw, since the beginning of their Seventh Year.

Carys Amanda Harper, a Scottish girl from Port Glasgow, had mid length brown hair that rested neatly on her shoulders, matching her sparkling brown eyes. She was very into sports and had played chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, along side Lily and Benjamen Harvey, since their third year. She was the smallest of the group, but made up for lack of height with her larger than life personality. Although she was hyper most of the time, she was quite responsible and helpful. She had a fiery temper if she was angered, which often led to Sirius joking that she should die her hair Auburn. She had been dating Sirius Black since the summer after their Sixth Year.

Keira Simone Collins was a tall English girl from the South East town of Folkestone. She had mid-length, slightly curly brown hair and bright blue eyes, which were framed by freckles from the summers sun. Though quieter than the other girls, she was very sarcastic and witty. She hated sports, that included watching and taking part in sports. She always go to the Quidditch Matches to support her friends but would sit with her boyfriend, Remus, reading, occasionally looking up to cheer. She had been dating Remus Lupin since the end of their Fifth Year.

Looking at the picture of the group made Lily laugh slightly as she sat at the desk, opening a draw. The picture was taken during the Christmas Holidays of their Seventh Year, a few weeks after Lily and James started dating. It was taken on New Years Eve when the group was celebrating at the Potter's extravagant party. They were dancing in their couples in the beautiful ballroom in the Potter's home when the camera Lily had charmed to follow them took the picture. None of them were looking at the camera, but into their partners eyes and smiling.

Lily continued to look at the picture whilst she pulled several half filled pieces of parchment and a quill out of one of the draws and continued to write. Each piece of parchment contained several paragraphs and was headed with a name. The letters, one for each of her closet friends, thanked them for the times they'd had over the last seven years. When she had finished writing she put them all into a small handbag. She took one last look around the room before packing the writing tools and picture frames and shutting the trunk. With a small sigh, she left the room and closed the door.

She slowly made her way down the stairs and into the common room, taking her time as she knew this was the last time she would do this. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she stood observing her friends, who hadn't realized she was there. Sirius and Carys were on the floor playing a game of exploding snap, though neither of them were concentrating properly. Remus and Keira were sitting on the couch, cuddling whilst James and Angharad sat on two armchairs in front of the fire, talking quietly.

Lily smiled sadly,as she walked across the room, wondering how long any of this would last, how long they would remain as a group. Remus and Keira looked up as she sat next to them and smiled at her. She smiled back as James walked over to her and gently pulled her up. She stood and smiled at him as he sat back down on the armchair and sat her on his lap. She made herself comfortable and leaned into him.

James looked down at her and saw sadness in her eyes. "You ok? You look a seem a bit distant"

"I'm fine. Fine." She answered with an uncertain voice.

"Whats wrong?" He said, though he regretted it when Angharad gave him the 'Shut up, isn't it obvious' look.

"I just don't want to have to go" Lily replied tearfully. Soon, large tears had begun to spill from her eyes. James wrapped his arms around her again to comfort her.

"I know sweetheart. We're like a family here and leaving is like leaving home" He said. It was a few moments before anyone spoke.

"We won't lose the family though, will we?" Keira whispered, with tears also streaming down her face, though she was trying to hide them. Sirius, Carys and Angharad stood and walked over to the rest of the group, the girls with tears in their eyes.

"Of course not. We'll all keep in touch" James said, though his voice was beginning to shake. "I know we will" Lily hugged into him more to show that she was still here. He kissed her forehead in thanks.

"I know that but it's just, well. This place holds a lot of good and bad memories and I want to be able to remember them all forever." Keira said tearfully.

"Come here Keira." Lily said, also with tears in her eyes. She led Keira into the bathroom, closely followed by Angharad and Carys.

**Xxxxx**

After 15 minutes, the four girls came out of the bathroom with red eyes and tears streaming down their faces. In their absence the boys had been talking about what would happen after today. James walked over to the girls shaking slightly with a tear in his eye. He gave them all a big group hug whilst Sirius and Remus came over. When they arrived, Keira, Angharad and Carys broke free of the group hug and left Lily and James hugging. James put a finger under her chin and guided her lips to his and gave her a kiss, which she returned. After a few moments of hugging, they walked back over to the group and sat on the couch next to Remus and Keira, still hugging they sat and remembered their fondest memories in silence.

A few minutes later, James lifted one of his arms and looked at his watch. "We better head down to the Great Hall. Dinner starts earlier today."

As the group walked down to the Great Hall, they passed groups with different moods. They passed many groups of people from the younger years, all looking excited. However they also passed many groups of 7th years, all looking distinctly unhappy. Whenever Lily saw one of these groups she would grab James hand even harder, but never hurting him. When they finally reached the Great Hall a large group of people walked over to them and started hugging them all, saying their goodbyes now instead of later. Angharad separated herself from the group as soon as she saw Paul Rhys, her boyfriend, who was in Ravenclaw.

A 7th year Ravenclaw called Joshua Richardson, who Lily had worked with on prefect rounds, started to talk to her. Lily nodded and smiled at him when he'd finished, before turning back towards James, who, along with Sirius, was surrounded by girls from different years.

"James. It won't be the same coming to school without you being here" Lily heard one of them say.

She coughed slightly and James' admirer looked around at her. "But of course. Your with Evans now." She said scowling.

"Yes and very happy thank you." James said as he walked over to Lily and leaded her towards the Gryffindor table. A place in the middle had been reserved for them all by Remus and Keira. They sat next to them hugging slightly.

Xxxx

After the feast, the group, including Paul, headed back to the Gryffindor tower to spend the night celebrating their time at the school. It would be a simple evening as they would be attending a more extravagant party at the Potter's after the graduation ceremony the next day. They spent the night having fun, laughing and sharing stories about their time at Hogwarts.

"Do you remember the time James tried to impress Lily by showing her a spell he'd invented? It backfired and dyed her skin purple. I thought she was going to kill him. " Sirius said, laughing at the memory as it played itself out in his head.

"Yes, yes. Don't you think we've shared enough of those stories"James said, pretending to be angry with the group. They had spent the last half an hour sharing stories of how James tried to get Lily to like him, most of which were incredibly embarrassing, though funny.

"Sorry James" Lily said, kissing him lightly, before turning to face Sirius. "Don't think we've forgotten the things you used to do to get Carys to notice you"

"I don't know what you are talking about" He said, blushing slightly whilst the rest of the group laughed.

"Oh really. So you don't remember the time when..." Keira was cut off by Sirius sending a silencing charm at her.

"Shh. You were sworn to secrecy, all of you" He whispered.

Angharad gave him a sarcastic look before adding "We're the only ones here. We all already know"

"The walls have ears" Sirius stated before changing the subject "So, Prongs, this party your parents are holding. Who exactly is going to be there?"

"Most of the students, some teachers and some Ministry officials"

"Ministry officials?" Angharad said, surprised. "I thought it was to celebrate us leaving school"

"My parents think it's a good idea to have them there, to get to know some of the students." He replied, checking his watch. "Its four in the morning, the ceremony starts in a few hours. We should get some sleep".

Everyone agreed and stood up, saying goodnight to their partners. Saying goodnight to the rest of the group Lily, James, Carys, Sirius, Angharad and Paul went up the stairs to their dormitories. Keira and Remus remained in the common room hugging on the sofa in front of the fire.

"Keira?"

"Remus"

"I have something important to ask you" He replied, his voice shaking with anticipation. Keira turned to talk to him and nodded, smiling. "Well, um, you know my secret and you're still with me"

"I love you, Remus" She stated quietly, kissing him lightly.

"I know, and thats what makes you even more amazing." He smiled slightly when she blushed. "I was wondering. Would you, um... Would you like to move in with me?"

"Remus, I..."

"It's ok. You don't have to it. It was just ..." He was cut off by Keira kissing him passionately.

"I'd love to Remus"

He sighed, relieved. "I love you, you know that don't you?"

"I know. I love you too" She kissed him again before turning towards the fire, beaming. Remus kissed the top of her head as she snuggled into him. After a few minutes they were both asleep.

xxxx

After the graduation ceremony, everyone headed towards the courtyard outside the Castle and waited for the horseless carriages to arrive. Although their parents were there, most of the students had decided to travel on the train, one last time.

Whilst they waited for their carriage Lily and James has some quality time with each other as the others had gotten onto a carriage. They gave each other a few kisses and stood their hugging. To their great surprise when the Slytherins passed, they simply smiled at them and walked onto their carriage.

When they finally got onto the train and met up with their friends, Lily opened her bag and pulled out seven letters and handed them out to each person. They all sat in silence for a few minutes and read them over, occasionally stopping to smile at Lily or hug her. James took the longest to read his letter.

_My Dearest James, _

_This last year was amazing. You have shown me that you really do care for me and it was not just a joke. This year made me realize how important you have been to me all these years, even the times when I seemed to hate you. I love you so much and I hope you know that, because i really do._

_Please, never forget me. And even if we end up together anyway, please, please write to me everyday. Thats sounds so silly but i need to know that you are ok, what with everything thats happening in our world now._

_I have just realized how much you must have hated me, even though you constantly asked me out. I was so awful to you. I just can't believe we actually made it. I can't believe we are finally together. But I'm glad we are. You are an amazing person James, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise._

_Please keep this letter forever. If you keep it, I know you really do love me._

_I love you _

_Yours Forever _

_Lily Marie Evans._


End file.
